1. Chapter 6: Project Time Management
Information Technology Project Management,
Fifth Edition
Note: some slides have been removed from the author’s original presentation.

2. Importance of Project Schedules
Managers often cite delivering projects on time as one of their biggest challenges
Time has the least amount of flexibility; it passes no matter what happens on a project
Schedule issues are the main reason for conflicts on projects, especially during the second half of projects
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

3. Individual Work Styles and Cultural Differences Cause Schedule Conflicts
One dimension of the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator focuses on peoples’ attitudes toward structure and deadline
Some people prefer to follow schedules and meet deadlines, while others do not (J vs. P)
Different cultures and even entire countries have different attitudes about schedules
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

4. Media Snapshot
In contrast to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games (see Chapter 4’s Media Snapshot), planning and scheduling was very different for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece
Many articles were written before the opening ceremonies predicting that the facilities would not be ready in time
Many people were pleasantly surprised by the amazing opening ceremonies, beautiful new buildings, and state-of- the-art security and transportation systems in Athens
The Greeks even made fun of critics by having construction workers pretend to still be working as the ceremonies began
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

5. Project Time Management Processes
Activity definition: identifying the specific activities that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables
Activity sequencing: identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities
Activity resource estimating: estimating how many resources a project team should use to perform project activities
Activity duration estimating: estimating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities
Schedule development: analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity duration estimates to create the project schedule
Schedule control: controlling and managing changes to the project schedule
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6. Figure 6-1: Project Time Management Summary
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7. 1. Activity Definition
Project schedules grow out of the basic documents that initiate a project
Project charter includes start and end dates and budget information
Scope statement and WBS help define what will be done
Activity definition involves developing a more detailed WBS and supporting explanations to understand all the work to be done so you can develop realistic cost and duration estimates
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

8. Activity Lists and Attributes
An activity list is a tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule that includes:
The activity name
An activity identifier or number
A brief description of the activity
Activity attributes provide more information such as predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, constraints, imposed dates, and assumptions related to the activity
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

9. Milestones
A milestone is a significant event that normally has no duration
It often takes several activities and a lot of work to complete a milestone
They’re useful tools for setting schedule goals and monitoring progress
Examples include obtaining customer sign-off on key documents or completion of specific products
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

10. What Went Wrong?
At the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), poor time management was one of the reasons behind the failure of Trilogy, a “disastrous, unbelievably expensive piece of vaporware, which was more than four years in the (un)making. The system was supposed to enable FBI agents to integrate intelligence from isolated information silos within the Bureau.”*
In May 2006, the Government Accounting Agency said that the Trilogy project failed at its core mission of improving the FBI’s investigative abilities and was plagued with missed milestones and escalating costs
*Roberts, Paul, “Frustrated contractor sentenced for hacking FBI to speed deployment,”
InfoWorld Tech Watch, (July 6, 2006).
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

11. 2. Activity Sequencing
Involves reviewing activities and determining dependencies
A dependency or relationship is the sequencing of project activities or tasks
You must determine dependencies in order to use critical path analysis
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

12. Three Types of Dependencies
Mandatory dependencies: inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project, sometimes referred to as hard logic
Discretionary dependencies: defined by the project team; sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care since they may limit later scheduling options
External dependencies: involve relationships between project and nonproject activities
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

13. Network Diagrams
Network diagrams are the preferred technique for showing activity sequencing
A network diagram is a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities
Two main formats are the arrow and precedence diagramming methods
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

14. Figure 6-2: Sample Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) Network Diagram for Project X
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

15. Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)
Also called activity-on-arrow (AOA) network diagrams
Activities are represented by arrows
Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points of activities
Can only show finish-to-start dependencies
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

16. Process for Creating AOA Diagrams
1. Find all of the activities that start at node 1: Draw their finish nodes and draw arrows between node 1 and those finish nodes; put the activity letter or name and duration estimate on the associated arrow
2. Continue drawing the network diagram, working from left to right: Look for bursts and merges
Bursts occur when a single node is followed by two or more activities
A merge occurs when two or more nodes precede a single node
3. Continue drawing the project network diagram until all activities are included on the diagram that have dependencies
4. As a rule of thumb, all arrowheads should face toward the right, and no arrows should cross on an AOA network diagram
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

17. Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
Activities are represented by boxes
Arrows show relationships between activities
More popular than ADM method and used by project management software
Better at showing different types of dependencies
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

18. Figure 6-3: Task Dependency Types
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19. Figure 6-4: Sample PDM Network Diagram
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20. 3. Activity Resource Estimating
Before estimating activity durations, you must have a good idea of the quantity and type of resources that will be assigned to each activity
Consider important issues in estimating resources
How difficult will it be to do specific activities on this project?
What is the organization’s history in doing similar activities?
Are the required resources available?
A resource breakdown structure is a hierarchical structure that identifies the project’s resources by category and type
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

21. 4. Activity Duration Estimating
Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity plus elapsed time
Effort is the number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task
Effort does not normally equal duration
People doing the work should help create estimates, and an expert should review them
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

22. 5. Schedule Development
Uses results of the other time management processes to determine the start and end date of the project
Ultimate goal is to create a realistic project schedule that provides a basis for monitoring project progress for the time dimension of the project
Important tools and techniques include Gantt charts, critical path analysis, critical chain scheduling, and PERT analysis
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

23. Gantt Charts
Gantt charts provide a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format
Symbols include:
Black diamonds: milestones
Thick black bars: summary tasks
Lighter horizontal bars: durations of tasks
Arrows: dependencies between tasks
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

24. Adding Milestones to Gantt Charts
Many people like to focus on meeting milestones, especially for large projects
Milestones emphasize important events or accomplishments on projects
Normally create milestone by entering tasks with a zero duration, or you can mark any task as a milestone
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

25. SMART Criteria Milestones should be: Specific Measurable Assignable
Realistic
Time-framed
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

26. Best Practice
Schedule risk is inherent in the development of complex systems
Luc Richard, the founder of suggests that project managers can reduce schedule risk through project milestones, a best practice that involves identifying and tracking significant points or achievements in the project
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

27. Best Practice (continued)
The five key points of using project milestones include the following:
1. Define milestones early in the project and include them in the Gantt chart to provide a visual guide
2. Keep milestones small and frequent
3. The set of milestones must be all-encompassing
4. Each milestone must be binary, meaning it is either complete or incomplete
5. Carefully monitor the critical path
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

28. Figure 6-7: Sample Tracking Gantt Chart
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29. Critical Path Method (CPM)
CPM is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration
A critical path for a project is the series of activities that determines the earliest time by which the project can be completed
The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float
Slack or float is the amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

30. Calculating the Critical Path
First develop a good network diagram
Add the duration estimates for all activities on each path through the network diagram
The longest path is the critical path
If one or more of the activities on the critical path takes longer than planned, the whole project schedule will slip unless the project manager takes corrective action
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

31. Figure 6-8: Determining the Critical Path for Project X
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32. More on the Critical Path
A project team at Apple computer put a stuffed gorilla on the top of the cubicle of the person currently managing a critical task
The critical path is not the one with all the critical activities; it only accounts for time
Remember the example of growing grass being on the critical path for Disney’s Animal Kingdom
There can be more than one critical path if the lengths of two or more paths are the same
The critical path can change as the project progresses
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

33. Using Critical Path Analysis to Make Schedule Trade-offs
Free slack or free float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately following activities
Total slack or total float is the amount of time an activity may be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date
A forward pass through the network diagram determines the early start and finish dates
A backward pass determines the late start and finish dates
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

34. Figure 6-9: Calculating Early and Late Start and Finish Dates
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35. Table 6-1: Free and Total Float or Slack for Project X
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36. Using the Critical Path to Shorten a Project Schedule
Three main techniques for shortening schedules
Shortening durations of critical activities/tasks by adding more resources or changing their scope
Crashing activities by obtaining the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost
Fast tracking activities by doing them in parallel or overlapping them
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

37. Importance of Updating Critical Path Data
It is important to update project schedule information to meet time goals for a project
The critical path may change as you enter actual start and finish dates
If you know the project completion date will slip, negotiate with the project sponsor
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

38. Buffers and Critical Chain
A buffer is additional time to complete a task
Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will
Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time allowed
In traditional estimates, people often add a buffer to each task and use it if it’s needed or not
Critical chain scheduling removes buffers from individual tasks and instead creates:
A project buffer or additional time added before the project’s due date
Feeding buffers or additional time added before tasks on the critical path
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

39. Figure 6-11: Example of Critical Chain Scheduling
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40. 6. Schedule Control Perform reality checks on schedules
Allow for contingencies
Don’t plan for everyone to work at 100% capacity all the time
Hold progress meetings with stakeholders and be clear and honest in communicating schedule issues
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

41. Schedule Control (continued)
Goals are to know the status of the schedule, influence factors that cause schedule changes, determine that the schedule has changed, and manage changes when they occur
Tools and techniques include:
Progress reports
A schedule change control system
Project management software, including schedule comparison charts like the tracking Gantt chart
Variance analysis, such as analyzing float or slack
Performance management, such as earned value (chapter 7)
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

42. Reality Checks on Scheduling
First review the draft schedule or estimated completion date in the project charter
Prepare a more detailed schedule with the project team
Make sure the schedule is realistic and followed
Alert top management well in advance if there are schedule problems
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

43. What Went Right?
Chris Higgins used the discipline he learned in the U.S. Army to transform project management into a cultural force at Bank of America; he used the same approach he did for packing tents when he led an interstate banking initiative
He made the team members analyze, plan, and document requirements for the system in such detail that it took six months just to complete that phase
However, because of his discipline with time management and planning, the software developers on the team finished all of the coding in only three months, and the project was completed on time*
*Melymuke, Kathleen, “Spit and Polish,” ComputerWorld (February 16, 1998).
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

44. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
Software for facilitating communications helps people exchange schedule-related information
Decision support models help analyze trade-offs that can be made
Project management software can help in various time management areas
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

45. Words of Caution on Using Project Management Software
Many people misuse project management software because they don’t understand important concepts and have not had training
You must enter dependencies to have dates adjust automatically and to determine the critical path
You must enter actual schedule information to compare planned and actual progress
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007